Range control system



0d. 1953 R. D. GRAYSON ET'AL 3,405,869

RANGE CONTROL SYSTEM Filed March 50, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lira 1.

J'N vs/v TOES. R/ mmeo D. 02/: vso/v L's-Roy NEWTON flrroRNEV.

RANGE CONTROL SYSTEM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 30, 1967 I'M/EN mes. D. Gem 501v LEROY A/zwrou Drive/459 06L 1963 R. D. GRAYSON ETAL 3,405,369

RANGE CONTROL SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 30, 1967 I N VEN Toes. Emu/020 D. Gem so Z5304 A/Eww/v WW WV United States Patent 3,405,869 RANGE CONTROL SYSTEM Richard D. Grayson, Arcadia, and Le Roy Newton, Sherman Oaks, Calitl, assignors to International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, a corporation of Deiaware Filed Mar. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 627,618 7 Claims. (Cl. 235-15) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A gas range oven, having separate main and broiler burners, is provided a single selection control apparatus operating downstream of the thermostatically controlled gas valve. The apparatus is manually settable to interconnect fuel gas from the thermostatically controlled valve to the desired burner and associated pilots. By the same setting manipulation, electrical connection is made between the valve and the pilot generator of the selected pilot (to prevent fuel to the burner unless the pilot is lighted), and a momentary electric signal is provided for igniting the selected pilot.

The present invention pertains generally to a gas range control system, and, more particularly, to such a system in which a pair of gas burners in the same compartment are selectively controlled.

Background 0 the invention In certain types of gas ranges, and especially those for residential use, it has been found desirable to include a pair of burners in the same oven compartment which are operated on a mutually exclusive basis. That is, a conventional oven arrangement is to have a main burner and a broiler burner, which are located at different places in the oven and when one is operating the other is off. Known present day systems of this kind require two complete sets of control apparatus including a separate gas line control valve for each burner with each valve having an associated ignition pilot burner and some type of flame sensing device (thermocouple or flame-switch, for example) for actuating the control valve when pilot igni tion is accomplished. Moreover, in these systems a manual selector gas valve upstream of the two safety control valves is necessary for directing gas to the desired control valve. This duplication is, of course, costly from both the material and labor standpoint, as well as in making extra demands on mounting space in the range.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a gas range control system for selectively and individually operating either burner of a two-burner unit by a single control apparatus.

Another object is the provision of a gas range control system for a two-burner oven in which only a single safety control valve is used. I

Further objects and features of the invention pertain to the particular construction and arrangement of elements of the system and of the selection control apparatus incorporated therein whereby the above-recited objects and additional operating features are obtained.

Still another object is to provide a gas range control system as in the above objects that is of straightforward construction, and inexpensive to manufacture.

Summary 0 the invention Briefly, the objects and advantages of the invention are achieved by a gas range control system for a pair of burners in a single compartment comprising a thermostatic heat control, a safety valve and special burner selection apparatus downstream of the safety valve. The selection apparatus is manually settable to port gas to either 3,405,869 Patented Oct. 15, 1968 of the burners and its associated pilot. Simultaneously with the setting manipulation of the apparatus, electrical connection is made between a flame sensing element of the selected pilot and the safety valve to prevent gas being routed to the selected burner unless the pilot is lighted. Switching means actuated by the same setting manipulation provides a momentary connection between a power source and an igniter associated with the selected pilot for lighting the same on maneuvering the selection apparatus from the olf position to one of burner selection. The switching means, however, is not actuated upon changing from burner selection to olf.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be manifest to those skilled in the gas range control art from the description that follows when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view of a gas range and range control system of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective rear view of the burner selection apparatus of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional, elevational view of the burner selection apparatus taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a section taken along line 4-4 of FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a section taken along line 5-5 of FIG- URE 3.

FIGURE 6 is an exploded greatly enlarged view of certain components of the burner selection apparatus depicting their general form and relation.

Description of the preferred embodiment With attention directed primarily to FIGURE 1, there is shown a gas range 10 of the typical residential variety having an oven 11 furnished with a main burner 12 located in the lower section, and a burner 13 for broiling mounted on the inner ceiling wall of the oven.

A thermostatic control 14 of conventional construction is conveniently located topside for controlling the opening and closing of safety valve means 15 which is operatively disposed between the gas inlet manifold 16 and the burners. Essentially, the control 14 includes a set of contact points arranged in serial relation between a power source and the valve means 15. Manual setting of the knob 17 to different precalibrated positions requires more or less, as the case may be, fluid pressure contained within the bulb 18 to transfer the contact points. In this manner, with the bulb 18 located in the oven, the valve is made responsive to oven temperature. For a more detailed discussion of such a thermostatic control, reference can be made to the copending application entitled, Heating Control Apparatus, by Richard D. Grayson, filed on Feb. 20, 1967, and assigned to the same assignee of record as this application.

In a manner that will be more definitively set forth later, burner selection apparatus 20 conduits gas from the valve means 15 to the broiler 13 or main burner 12 via the respective lines 21 and 22, in accordance with the setting of knob 23. Also, the selection apparatus channels gas to the associated selected pilot assemblies 24 or 25 by the respective lines 26 or 27, which gas is obtained directly from the inlet manifold bypassing the safety valve means 15 to permit pilot operation independently thereof.

Each pilot assembly includes a pilot flame sensing device 28, 29. As contemplated here, these devices will be constructed of serially connected thermocouples for providing a signal by lines 30 and 31 to the selection apparatus, which, in turn, passes along the line 32, through the contact points (not shown) of thermostatic control 14 and along line 33 to energize the main valve 15. Thus, it is seen that the safety valve means depends, at base, upon 3 a pilot being lighted before it can be actuated. This is a conventional safety feature.

By specific means that will be described below, changing the setting of selection apparatus from the off position to a burner position or from one burner directly to another burner, provides a momentary electric signal on the appropriate line 34 or 35 to an igniter 34', 35 associated with the newly selected pilot assembly for lighting the pilot. The lines 34 and 35 are included within a common cable with the associated flame sensing device line 30 or 31, as the case may be. This signal is only provided as a selected burner is turned on and does not occur when a burner is turned off.

Recapitulating on the system operation, with the knob 17 of the thermostatic control 14 set to a prescribed oven temperature, the knob 23 of the burner selection apparatus is then set to select either the broiler or main burner, as desired. By this single selection manipulation, fuel gas is routed to the appropriate burner and its pilot;'tne corresponding pilot flame-sensing device is connected to furnish an electric signal for operating the safety valve means which is also monitored by the thermostatic control 14; and the'pilot of the newly selected burner is ignited.

With reference now particularly to FIGURES 3 and 6, a description of the burner selection apparatus 20 will be given. The selection apparatus body 36, of heavy cast metal construction, includes a cavity 37 at the rightmost as depicted in FIGURE 3. A stator assembly 38 has wall portions defining a pair of separate chambers 39 and 40 having upwardly directed outlets, and forwardly facing pie-shaped openings 41 and 42, respectively. The body 36, includes a pair of elongated vertically disposed openings 43 and 44 leading to the exterior which, when the stator is assembled within the cavity 37, are aligned and in communication, respectively, with the openings 39 and 40. Fittings 45 and 46, respectively connect gas lines 21 and 22 to the openings 43 and 44.

A disclike rotor 47 having a single pie-shaped opening 48 is disposed with a major surface area in flush contacting relation to the forwardly directed surface 49 of the stator including the openings 41 and 42. The rotor is fixedly mounted for axial rotation with a shaft 50 along such a path as to selectively bring the opening 48 into registry with either of the openings 41 or 42. The inactive, or off, position of the shaft disposes the rotor opening between the openings 41 and 42 as shown in FIGURE 6. When the rotor opening is registered with one of the stator openings 41 or 42, gas supplied to the chamber 51 from the safety valve means is routed via the different openings and appropriate feed line to the selected burner. The chamber 51 is otherwise made gas tight by the inner wall 52 and O-ring 53 received within a suitably dimensioned groove on the shaft 50.

Received onto the forwardly extending portions 54 of the wall 52 are camming means 55 of insulative material that are secured to the shaft 50 for common rotation by driver 56. The driver is keyed to the shaft and has a pair of cars 57 that are received Within openings 58 in the camming means for achieving a driving relation with the shaft. As shown best in FIGURE 6, the camming means includes the following cams beginning with the one nearest the rotor end of the shaft: pilot valve cam 59; pilot ignition cam 60; and a pilot signal cam 61. Although on rotation of the selection shaft 50 all of these cams are operated simultaneously and initiate functions that take place concurrently, in the following description the various carnmed operations will be discussed separately for simplicity of presentation.

Turning now to FIGURE 4, at each side of the enclosure body 36 there is provided a pilot valve 62, one for each pilot assembly 24 and 25. It includes an elongate pinlike body 63 that is received Within a suitably dimensionecl opening formed in the enclosure, and spring-loaded to be resiliently urged toward the shaft 50. Gas inlet to the value is afforded by the channel 64 that is appropriately connected to the inlet manifold by a fitting (not shown). An outlet channel 65 is connected to an appropriate pilot gas line 26 or 27 via suitable fitting means. O-ring 66 carried in a groove in the body 63 serves to seal the valve seat and prevent gas flow from 64 to 65 when the valve is closed (at its rightmost). O-ring 67 prevents gas flow into the interior of the enclosure from either of channels 64 or 65. Selecting a burner causes cam 59 to bear against the rounded terminus 68 moving the body 63 outwardly to open the valve and provide gas to the selected pilot. Means 69 is adjustable to fixedly control the amount of gas delivered to the pilot.

Still referring to FIGURE 4 and with additional reference to FIGURE 3, a pair of generally U-shaped, wirelike contact members 70 and 71 are secured to the inner upper wall of the enclosure 36 by retaining means 72 and 73 respectively, each of which is individually electrically connected to terminal pins 74 and 75 of the female connector 76. As shown best in FIGURE 3, the legs of member 71 are more closely spaced together, and are disposed between the legs of member 70 but slightly spaced therefrom. Starting with the pilot ignition cam 60 in the off position (central) solid-line depiction of FIGURE 4), movement to either setting position causes the cam 60 to move a leg of contact member 71 into contact with a leg of member '70 and then, as the cam passes by, the spring tension of member 71 returns it to the non-contracting position. The momentary contact between the wirelike members closes an external circuit through terminal pins 74 and 75 to energize a pilot igniter and light the pilot of the selected burner. Return of the cam 60 to the off position engages the leg of member 71, but this time moves it away from the associated leg of member 70, and therefore, does not close the circuit to provide pilot ignition.

In FIGURE 5, there is shown a terminal connector pin 77 extending vertically from the upper wall portion of the enclosure 36 and located forwardly of the connector 76. The inner end of this connector is secured in good electrical contact to the cross leg of a U-shaped member 78 constructed of thin, springlike material. Rotation of the camming means from the central off position to either burner selection position (shown in dash-line) causes pilot signal cam 61 to move a leg of connector 78 into contact with a terminal contact means 79 and maintain the contact as long as that particular burner setting is held. In this manner, the line 32 connected to terminal connector pin 77 is provided with a signal from either pilot flame-sensing device 28 or 29 through line 30 or 31 connected individually to the terminal contact means 79. Return of the camming means 55 to the off position per mits the legs of member 78 to return to the non-contacting condition due to their built-in spring tension. Over the free end of the shaft 50 there is furnished a cover 80 that is secured to enclosure in any suitable manner.

Summarizing operation of the burner selection apparatus 20, rotating the knob 23 from the off position to, say, that for selecting operation of the main oven burner 12, accomplishes each of the following directly from rotation of the shaft 50:

(1) The rotor 47 is positioned to channel gas from the safety valve means 15, through rotor opening 48, stator opening 42, chamber 40, opening 44, and gas line 22 to the main oven burner.

(2) Pilot valve cam 59 opens pilot valve 62 routing gas from the main manifold through inlet channel 64, outlet channel 65 and gas line 27 to the main burner pilot.

(3) Pilot signal cam 61 moves the U-shaped member 78 into contact with terminal contact means 79 completing the circuit from the main burner flame-sensing device 29, line 31 to line 32 and thermostatic control 14.

(4) Pilot ignition cam 60 moves member 71 into contact with member 70 completing the electrical circuit to ignite the pilot at the main oven burner.

It is seen that through practice of the present invention there is provided a range control system for a gas range compartment having a pair of burners which are operated individually. By means of special burner selection apparatus, the desired burner and associated pilot are supplied with gas, and appropriate electrical connections are made to the flame-sensing device and pilot igniter, while at the same time maintaining the non-selected burner assembly in inactive condition. All of this is accomplished by manipulation of a single rotating-shaft type control, and eliminating the need for an extra safety valve as required in known prior systems.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that various changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in such embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims which follow:

What is claimed is:

1. A gas range control system for providing mutually exclusive operation of first and second burner assemblies in a range compartment, each assembly including a burner, a pilot, a pilot flame-sensing device, and a pilot igniter, comprising:

an electric signal operated valve for controlling gas supply from a source;

a thermostatic control for controlling the valve in response to compartment temperature;

burner assembly selection apparatus including,

means to route gas from the valve to either burner, means to selectively provide gas from the source to either pilot, first switching means interconnecting the pilot flame-sensing devices to the thermostatic control for powering actuation of the valve, and second switching means for individually connecting a source of electric power to the pilot igniters; said means being actuated in common by selective rotative adjustment of a shaft to place a desired one of the burner assemblies in operation.

2. A gas range control system as in claim 1, in which the second switching means provides a momentary connection between the associated pilot igniter on rotating the shaft to select a burner assembly.

3. A gas range control system as in claim 2, in which the second switching means includes a cam mounted for rotation with the shaft, first terminal means connected to the source of electric power, second terminal means mounted adjacent and spaced from the first terminal means connected to the igniters, the first and second terminal means being so disposed that selective rotation of the shaft brings the cam into bearing contact with one of the terminal means moving it into contact with the other terminal means, the contact being momentary.

4. A gas range control system as in claim 3, which upon full selective rotation of the shaft being made the cam is disengaged from bearing contact with the terminal means and it returns to the spaced condition with the other terminal means through inherent tension, and rotation of the shaft out of selection prevents the cam re-engaging the terminal means until the other selection is made.

5. A gas range control system as in claim 1, in which the first switching means includes a second cam mounted for rotation with the shaft, a bifurcated member of fiexible springlike conductive material mounted with its legs in surrounding relationship to the second cam, means connecting the bifurcated member to the thermostatic control; the second cam being spaced from the legs of the bifurcated member when the shaft is at the off adjustment, and when selective rotation is performed the second cam moves a leg into contact With a terminal connected to the selected flame-sensing device and maintains this contact throughout a given burner selection.

6. A gas range control system as in claim 1, in which the burner assembly selection apparatus comprises an enclosure, a selection shaft with one end extending from the enclosure and the remainder within the enclosure, a rotor plate having an opening passing through the major surfaces thereof and axially secured to the shaft end within the enclosure for rotation therewith, a first chamber within the enclosure in communication 'With one major surface of the rotor plate, means interconnecting the valve and the first chamber for conduiting gas thereto, second and third chambers individually in communication with the other major surface of the rotor plate in such manner that rotation of the shaft effects communication of the gas in the first chamber via the opening in the rotor plate to the second and third chambers individually, and means for conduitin'g the gas from the second and third chambers to the first and second burner assemblies, respectively.

7. A gas range control system as in claim 6, in 'which the burner assembly selection apparatus further includes a pair of plunger valve assemblies located forwardly of the first chamber, the assemblies being located on opposite sides of the shaft, and having operating portions extending toward the shaft, means for conduiting gas to the valve assemblies, means for conduiting gas from the valve assemblies to respective pilots, and cam means carried by the shaft for engaging the appropriate operating portions to open the associated valve and provide gas to the respective pilot of the selected burner assembly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,115,926 12/1963 Ray 158131 3,312,396 4/1967 Willson 23615 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner. W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner. 

